1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to flash electrically erasable and programmable read only memory (EEPROMS), and more specifically to NAND flash memory with a high memory cell density.
2. Related Art
Most existing commercial flash EEPROM products operate each memory cell with two ranges of threshold voltages, one above and the other below a breakpoint level, thereby defining two programmed states. One bit of data is thus stored in each cell, a 0 when programmed into one state and a 1 when programmed into its other state. A chunk of a given number of bits of data is programmed at one time into an equal number of cells. The state of each cell is monitored during programming so that application of programming voltages stops when the threshold level of an individual cell is verified to have moved within the range that represents the value of the bit of data being stored in the cell.
In order to increase the amount of data stored in a flash EEPROM system having a certain number of storage cells, the individual cells are operated with more than two threshold level states. Preferably, two or more bits of data are stored in each cell by operating the individual cells with four or more programmable states. Three threshold breakpoint levels are necessary to define four different threshold states. Such a system is described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,043,940 and 5,172,338, which are hereby incorporated by this reference in their entirety. In multi-state operation, an available operating voltage range of the individual cells is divided into an increased number of states. The use of eight or more states, resulting in storing three or more bits of data per cell, is contemplated. The voltage range of each state necessarily becomes smaller as the number of states is increased. This leaves less margin within each state to accommodate any error that might occur during operation of the memory system.
One type of error is termed a “disturb,” wherein electrons are unintentionally added to or taken away from a floating gate during operation of the memory. One source of a disturb is the presence of a leaky oxide dielectric positioned between the floating gate and another conductive gate of a cell. The charge level programmed onto a floating gate of a cell changes when such a leaky oxide is present, thus leading to the possibility that the state of the cell will be incorrectly read if the change in charge has been large enough. Since few to no errors can be tolerated in a mass digital data storage system, a sufficient margin for this error is provided by making the voltage range allocated to each state sufficient to include an expanded range of voltages that can occur as the result of such disturbs. This necessarily limits the number of states that can be included in a multistate flash EEPROM system since the total available voltage range is limited.
Another type of error is termed the “Yupin effect.” The Yupin effect occurs when the neighboring cell of a selected cell is programmed after the selected cell itself is programmed, and the charges of the neighboring cell influence the voltage of the selected cell. Such interference from the subsequently programmed neighbor cell distorts the voltages of the selected cell, possibly leading to an erroneous identification of its memory state during reading. Other program operations may also interfere with and influence the reading of a selected memory cell. The more compact a memory system becomes, the more influence a neighboring cell or operation has upon a selected cell.